Munster’s young guns get chance to ‘blossom’ as Rob Penney returns with Crusaders
Former Munster head coach Rob Penney, pictured in 2014, returns to the province with the Crusaders. Photo: Sportsfile
After all the hullabaloo about the naming rights at a venue which initially refused to stage the testimonial for the late Republic of Ireland international Liam Miller, it’s more than a touch ironic that the first team to run out at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh will be wearing the red of Munster rugby rather than any of the Cork GAA teams.
It will not be lost on the diehards either that unlike most of the Cork GAA teams who have played at the redeveloped ground, Munster will again be playing to a full house – with all 40,885 tickets sold for their friendly against Super Rugby champions Crusaders.
Head coach Graham Rowntree is hoping they can repeat the atmosphere and success of their first outing at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in November 2022 when victory over a South Africa XV lifted their season.
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He’s sending out an understandably weakened side against a Crusaders outfit minus all seven World Cup All Blacks but still featuring the likes of New Zealand centurion Owen Franks and former Welsh international Leigh Halfpenny, one of many new signings.
It’s a first outing as well for former Munster coach Rob Penney who has returned from a stint in charge of Japan U-20 to take over from new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson.
Both teams will enjoy the freedom of not playing for league points or cup advancement.
“I’d say more like a pre-season week because we’ve got lads away, big characters away,” said Rowntree when asked about the build-up this week. “We’ve got a lot of young men with the group, which is good because they’re really blossoming as well.”
If Penney was looking at recent Munster games in preparation for this he will have noted how the likes of 6ft 9in lock Tom Ahern was setting up and scoring tries by playing out wide – a tactic he tried to introduce at Munster over a decade ago but met with a lot of resistance to his revolutionary ways.
“I’ve still got a lot of time and passion for Munster,” said Penney. “It’s wonderful to be back. It’s actually a little bit emotional, to be fair. And I’m very honoured to be here representing the place I love the most – but Munster would be a close second!”
MUNSTER: S Daly; S O’Brien, A Frisch, A Nankivell, S McCarthy; J Carbery, E Coughlan; J Wycherley, E Clarke, S Archer; G Coombes, F Wycherley; R Quinn, A Kendellen (c), J O’Sullivan. Reps: S Buckley, M Donnelly, J Ryan, K Nowak, J Daly, D Okeke, N Cronin, T Butler, R Scannell, C Hogan.
CRUSADERS: L Halfpenny; C Fihaki, L Aumua, D McLeod, M Springer; T Kemara, M Drummond; G Bower, G Bell, O Franks; Q Strange (c), T Cahill; D Gardiner, T Christie, C Grace. Reps: I Moananu, K Sykes-Martin, S Calder, J Hannah, C Lio-Willie, N Hotham, R Reihana, R Crotty, J Southall, H Murray.
REF: Chris Busby (IRFU).
